Combination refrigerator and walkin storage compartment



June 24, 1952 R. w. RIVETTE 2,601,634

COMBINATION REFRIGERATOR AND WALK-IN STORAGE COMPARTMENT Filed Feb. 14,1949; s Sheets-Sheet 1 5a 62 50 50 40 Raymond William River/e IN V ENTOR.

June 24, 1952 w, RIVETTE 2,601,634

COMBINATION REFRIGERATOR AND WALK-IN STORAGE COMPARTMENT Filed Feb. 14,1949 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig.3. 5a

20 22 #0 Fig. 4. 24 M RXQM 53 x 66 1 Q 82 I 28 Fig. 5

I 1 1; 7 X 86 l ii 2 VJ Raymond William Rivefle 4 INVENTOR.

BY gamma June 24, 1952 R. w. RIVETTE 2,601,634

FRIGERATCR AND WALK-IN STORAGE COMPARTMENT COMBINATION RE Filed Feb. 14,1949 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Fig. 6.

Raymond William Rive/re IN VEN TOR.

Fig. 7.

Patented June 24, 1952 COMBINATION REFRIGERATOR A ND WALK- .IN STORAGECOMPARTMENT Raymond William Rivette, San Francisco, Calif. ApplicationFebruary 14, 1949, Serial No. 76,274

4 Claims. (01. 62-89) This invention relates to a combinationrefrigerator and quick freeze and walk-in storage compartmentconstructed of segmental discerptible sections, the primary object ofwhich is to permit one to carry the sections through a small sizeentrance and then assemble, rapidly and easily, the entire box in anappropriate place, such as a kitchen, small closet, cellar, etc.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide a combinedrefrigerator and walk-in freeze compartment, the sides of which can bereadily and easily extended by the addition of segmental sections to thealready existing box structure.

Another object of this invention is to provide a device of the characterdescribed which can be constructed from metal, wood or woodfiber'including discerptible segments that are properly insulated withinand Without.

Another object of this invention is to provide a device of the characterdescribed including shelves and hooks for retaining material andfoodstuffs in the box.

Yet another object of the invention is to; provide a combinationrefrigerator and walk-in freeze compartment comprising a substantiallyrectangular container and a refrigerating unit in said container, thewalls of said container including separable panels, means for retainingsaid panels in assembled relation, and means for insulating said panels.

These, together with various ancillary objects and features of theinvention which will later become apparent as the following descriptionproceeds, are attained by the device, a preferred embodiment of whichhas been illustrated by way of example only in the accompanyingdrawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the assembled box of the instantinvention;

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially in the planeof section line 22 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken substantially in the plane of sectionline 3-3 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken substantially in the plane of sectionline 4-4 of Figure 1;

Figure 5 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view illustrating theconstruction of a corner shown in Figure 4;

Figure 6 is a group assembly View of the panels ready to be assembledinto the box shown in Figure 1;

Figure 7 is a front elevational View of one of the side panels, partsbeing broken away to show details of construction;

Figure 8 is a View similar to Figure 7 showing a bottom and top panels;and

Figure 9 is a sectional view taken substantially on the plane of sectionline 9-9 of Figure 7.

Specific reference i now made to the drawings. In the several views inthe accompanying drawings and the following specification referencecharacters indicate corresponding elements throughout.

As will be seen clearly in Figure 1, the assembled box is preferablysubstantially rectangular in shape and consists of a top wall ID, abottom Wall l2, side walls I4, a back wall I5 and a front wall it. Thefront wall I8 is further provided with a hinged door 2!] for access tothe refrigerator compartment and a hinged door 22 for access to thewalk-in freeze compartment.

The construction of the combined refrigerator and freeze box will bestbe understood with reference to the structure of the individual panelsshown clearly in Figures 6 to 9. The panels making up the side walls [4consist of an outer wall 24 and an inner wall 26 which is somewhatshorter in overall dimensions than the outer walls between which wallswill be found cross braces 28. A number of recessed screws 30 will beprovided which extend through suitable apertures in the outer and innerwalls 24 and 25 and through the cros braces 28. The recessed screws 30,therefore, serve to retain the outer and inner Walls in spacedrelationship to each other and between the walls and the braces will befound suitable insulating material 32 such as of cork, glass wool, etc.About the outer edge of the inner wall is entrained a rubber gasket 34for further insulation purposes. One of the side walls will be providedwith a Window 36 for exhausting warm air from the interior of the box. IIt will be noted that the top and bottom panels 38 and 40 are of thesame essential construction as the side panels except that the inner andouter walls are separated by horizontal braces 42, there being no needfor any diagonal braces. With regard to the front and back panels, shownat 44 and 46, the construction is exactly the same as the constructionof the side panels except that the front panels 46 are provided withcut-outs for retaining the hinged doors 2!] and 22.

To better understand the manner of assembling the individual panels sideby side so that a unitary structure as shown in Figure 1 is obtamed,reference will be had to the sectional views shown in Figures 2 to 5.After the side panels have been assembled and placed edge to edge,elongated headed bolts 50 are positioned through suitable apertures 52in the outer walls of the side panels and through suitable apertures 54and 56 in the top and bottom panels. As will be seen clearly in Figure2, the bolts 50 extend entirely through the top and bottom panels, thatis, between the outer and inner walls of these panels, and the bolts arethreaded at their outer extremities to receive locking nuts 58. Wherespace is limited, a flexible cable with a bolt brazed or welded on eachend may be used. The bolt or cable opening through the panels will haveconduits inserted to accommodate the size of cable or bolt used. Itwill, of course, be understood that these bolts can vary in size so thatmore panels can be added to extend the overall size of the assembledbox. As will be seen clearly in the figures the inner walls 26 of theassembled panels meet to form corners 60 and vertically extendinggaskets .62 are provided which are secured as by adhesion to the cornersB to insure proper installation thereabout.

It will be noted that at one position within the assembled box aconventional refrigerator 64 is positioned having a refrigerating unitor motor 66 mounted preferably at the top thereof and the usual wireshelves 68. The refrigerator itself is separated from the freezecompartment by means of a pair of vertical partitions l2 and I4 aboutthe refrigerator 64, Adjacent the top of the partition 12 is an aperturefor receiving a conduit I8 connected to the refrigerating unit 66 andcarrying a cooling coil 80 disposed against the partition 12 and withinthe freeze compartment. To suspend meat and other food particles fromthe top wall of the freeze compartment, appropriate hooks B2 areprovided. Vertically spaced aligned angle brackets 84 are secured in anyappropriate manner to the inner walls of the back and side members inthe freeze compartment 10 for supporting shelves 86 upon which manyfooditems can be retained. It is preferable that these shelves merely linethe back and side walls so that a space is left as at 88 to permit oneto walk into the freeze compartment.

It should also be noted at this point that both the refrigerator doorand the freeze compartment door 22 are constructed of inner and outerwalls and connecting side walls with appropriate insulation betweenthese walls, as shown clearly in Figures 3 and 4.

Thus it will be seen that a novel discerptible combination refrigeratorand walk-in freeze box or container is provided which can be readily andeasily assembled with a minimum of parts, which can, therefore, betransported easily through a narrow entrance, and which can be readilyextended to any desired size by the mere addition of appropriate panelsand the provision 6 of lts. of sufl ent length.

In view of the foregoing description taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings it is believed that a clear understanding of thedevice will be quite apparent to those skilled in this art. A moredetailed description is accordingly deemed unnecessary.

It is to be understood, however, that even though there is herein shownand described a preferred embodiment of the invention the same issusceptible to certain changes fully comprehended by the spirit of theinvention as herein described and the scope of the appended claims.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. A refrigerator unit comprising a substantially rectangular housinghaving side, end, top and bottom walls, a pair of perpendicularlyconnected vertical partitions in said housing adjacent one cornerthereof dividing the same into a small refrigerating compartment and arelatively large walk-in freeze compartment, a horizontal partition insaid refrigerating compartment spaced from said top wall, a motor andcompressor mounted on said horizontal position, and a cooling coilconnected to said compressor mounted on one of said vertical partitionsin said freeze compartment and having a portion extending through saidone vertical partition, said walls of said housing including separableinsulated panels and means for removably securing said panels togetherto form the rectangular housing.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said means includes a first set oftie rods extending through said side wall panels and said top wallpanels, a second set of tie rods extending through said side wall panelsand said bottom wall panels,

a third set of tie rods extending through said end wall panels and saidtop wall panels, and a fourth set of tie rods extending through said endwall panels and said bottom wall panels.

3. The combination of claim 2 and insulating strips engaging the cornersof said housing and disposed within the joined panels.

4. The combination of claim 1 and removable shelf means within saidfreeze compartment and within said refrigerating compartment beneathsaid horizontal partition for retaining food items.

RAYMOND WILLIAM RIVETTE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number

